What We Do

What We Do

There is a growing movement towards church-led, grassroots neighborhood engagement. However, how the Christian principles of loving our neighbors and promoting human dignity are manifest in our physical, built environment remains relatively unexplored. Proximity Project is uniquely working to facilitate a Christian perspective of the built environment by educating and advising churches and faith-based enterprises on the important connections between good urban design and human flourishing.

To encourage Christian leaders to be active participants in the development and design of their neighborhoods, Proximity Project seeks to provide resources that empower them to wisely and strategically enter the city planning and development conversation.

We do this by:

Organizing and hosting a variety of events across the Twin Cities.

Leading educational walking tours of neighborhoods.

Presenting to churches and other faith-based enterprises about the theology of the built environment.

Advising on urban design, creative placemaking, and community engagement.

Providing current resource lists for thinking critically about urban planning and design.

We are also in process of developing small group curricula and neighborhood walking tour toolkits to be used by churches and faith-based communities.

It is our hope that by providing a basic level of knowledge and resources tailored for churches and faith-based enterprises to actively participate in city planning and design, more people will be engaged in advocating for neighborhoods that are designed for human dignity, social justice, environmental and economic stewardship, and community interaction. We desire to see the goodness of God made visible in our urban landscape!